Pride of Palatka II // 49′ Passenger Pontoon Boat // St. Johns River // City of Palatka
A couple years ago, I started running a 45 foot pontoon boat out of Palatka, Florida. She is United States Coast Guard approved to carry 49 passengers and a captain and one crew. Powered by twin 200 hp Yamahas mounted on jack plates, she cruises comfortably around 10 knots when fully loaded.
Public and Private Charters
So far, the boat has been used for public and private charters. Some of the public events during which it carried passengers are the Blue Crab Festival and the Bartram Frolic Festival in Palatka.
Bartram Frolic Festival Tours
For the Bartram Frolic, the Pride of Palatka travels up the St. Johns River to Bartram Trail sites like number seven, Rollestown, or Charlotia.
Early Settlers
The Palatka Waterfront features displays of early settler life along the St. Johns River during the Bartram Festival. My favorite part is when the character actors come sail on the boat with us!
Bartram Trail Markers
From the boat, passengers can see the Bartram Trail Markers. Local historian Sam Carr comes along on the tours to narrate from Bartram’s book “Travels” and tell stories of Bartram’s 1765 voyage with his father along the river.
Photography Opportunities
Many of the passengers bring binoculars and cameras. We like to cruise quietly past osprey nests, being careful to not disturb the families with their chicks.
St. Johns Riverkeeper
Lisa Rinamen from the St. Johns Riverkeeper also comes along on some cruises to tell passengers statistical information about the St. Johns River, it’s flow rate, and how to protect and restore the river’s health.
The St. Johns Riverkeeper is an advocacy group with the mission of keeping the river clean and healthy and available for everyone to enjoy. They defend and protect the river’s ecosystems by patrolling, investigating pollution, educating and advocating.
Crewing on the Pride of Palatka
The boat was fairly new when I started crewing aboard, so it was a lot of fun determining fuel consumption and practicing docking maneuvers.
Every day when I am operating the boat, first my crew and I inspect all the safety equipment. Then we wipe down all the seats, check fluids and prepare to cast off to go pick up passengers.
Vessel Specs
The Pride of Palatka is an aluminum pontoon boat built by Trident in Tavares, Florida. It is powered by two 200-horsepower Yamaha engines mounted on jack plates. She displaces five tons. Pride is US Coast Guard approved to carry 49 passengers and one captain and one crew, provided they have an average weight of 185.
What to Read Next
St. Johns River // Bartram Frolic // Riverboat Tour in Palatka, Florida
Come Boating With Me // Pride of Palatka Florida Riverboat Tours // Deep Water Happy
Pride of Palatka // Bartram Frolic // Deep Water Happy
Bartram Trail Cruise on the St. Johns River
Sunscreen and Reef-Safe Toiletries
When you sail, don’t forget to bring a small backpack or bag for carrying a few items to the boat with you. A dry bag gives you even more flexibility and security.
My Stream2Sea dry bag is the perfect size for all my sunscreen, bathing suit or foundation garments, sunglasses case, a book, and a few other items for excursions to the boat or yacht club. My discount code “DeepWH” gets you 10% off everything.
Stream2Sea have hand sanitizer, reef-safe sunscreen, leave-in conditioner, lip balm, shampoo, body wash, and even mask defog! Using my link won’t increase you price, and I might receive a small incentive for introducing you to reef-safe sunscreens and more.
Great Training Resource
My First Aid and CPR annual course simply did not have enough depth and breadth for the possibilities of a boat event. So, I highly recommend the Tactical Casualty Care online course from Crisis Medicine.
In fact, I learned so much from the training, that I have been writing a lot about the topics and the training, hoping anyone active outdoors will take responsibility and seek out bleeding control training..
For courses through Crisis Medicine, I’m able to offer you a 20% discount; just use my code, “DeepWH” at checkout for the TC2 course.
